All
You Need to Know about Parenting Afternoon,
June 17 1999By Priya Parikh-Tanna

All you ever needed to know about
parenting... but didn't know whom to ask! An expecting mother's diet, the
child's intellectual development, a father's role, a parent-child compatibility
chart according to the zodiac signs, nursery rhymes and prayers, and lots
more...! It's all there for you, a click of a mouse away.

Why would Nirali Sanghi, a yuppie
having gone the management route, make a dramatic U-turn and launch a site
on an issue as domestic as parenting? Because her years at Columbia Business
School taught her to grab an opportunity when it stared at her in the face.

A Mumbaikar, Nirali headed for the
US for a major in economics, followed by a year in computer programming
and then a brief stint at a leading mergers and acquisition firm before
heading for Columbia Business School. She left New York as the associate
vice-president of Citibank.

On moving back to Mumbai, she joined
the Boston Consultancy Group. In 1998, her daughter was born, which is
when indiaparenting.com happened to her - or vice-versa.

"When I was pregnant, I had logged
on to the net to find information on Indian pregnancies," she says. "I
found many sites on pregnancies, but nothing related specifically to India.
And there are lots of topics which are specific to us.

"Like the Indian diet, for example,
or the numerous myths and old wives' tales - if you apply ghee, you won't
have any stretch marks, or if you have tea, your baby will turn out dark.
You do wonder if here is any merit to all this, and there was nothing on
the net that dealt with it. So I decided that parenting would be the first
topic I would get into."

Work for the site commenced last
November, and the site was officially launched last month.

"It took us a lot longer than I expected,"
she continues, "but one thing was sure, I wanted to be thorough."

And thorough she was. The site is
a compilation of over 1,800 pages, and is a virtual A-Z on parenting. The
material has been sourced from scores of books and after months of extensive
research.

A few of the issues covered are pregnancy
diet and care, child care, new-born child's development, role of the father,
a chi1d-parent compatibility chart according to the zodiac signs, baby
contests, nursery rhymes and hymns in different languages, baby names (including
Muslim names, names by alphabets or rashi, and names that are easy to pronounce)
and an interactive poll for readers.

"We also have a panel of eminent
doctors whose services are a part of the site," continues Nirali. "This
not only includes paediatricians and gynaecologists, but also cardiologists,
neurologists (for fits, falls and epilepsies), dentists, speech and hearing
pathologists, radiologists, etc. In all we have a panel of 22 distinguished
doctors who not only disseminate information but also answer visitors'
queries."'

The highlight of the site, though,
is a cybershopping section for babies. "I have started off with a line
of ghagra cholis which people can buy off the net, and delivery is done
in and out of India. From personal experience I know that it is very difficult
to find ethnic wear for young girls. The clothes and designs are displayed
on the site with details and pricing in rupees and dollars.

The site may concentrate on Indian
parenting, but has been developed keeping both Indians and Non-Resident
Indians in mind.

She works out of her residence with
a team of five, which, she adds is slowly increasing. Speaking of her involvement,
she says, "I am here most of the time, even after my team disperses. Many
a time, I work till late at night. My involvement is complete."

Nirali says she has received an overwhelming
response from the site, which has been inundated with visitors from all
over the world.

Encouraged by the feedback, Nirali
has made elaborate plans which include developing the existing site
and creating many others which are rich and content based."